Riyadh (الرياض ar-Riyāḍ) is the capital of Saudi Arabia, slightly east of the center of the country in the heart of the Tuwaig escarpment.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons contributors.
Known by local wags as the Dead Center of the Kingdom, Riyadh is considered the most straight-laced of the Kingdom's big three cities. With many forms of entertainment banned, few sights of interest and a brutal climate, Riyadh is a business-only destination if there ever was one, but it's also the best place in the kingdom to watch the continuing collision of tribal Wahhabi conservatism grappling with modern technology and Western influences, and things have loosened up slightly under Crown Prince MBS's watch. Until the 16th century, Riyadh was known as "Hajr", an important city of central Arabia dating from at least the 3rd century CE (and probably older).
Riyadh is very much a car-oriented city, although the Riyadh Metro finally provides an alternative. There are no street addresses as such in Riyadh, as mail is delivered to post office boxes, so getting around requires knowing landmarks near the place where you want to go. The only reliable means of transport in Riyadh is a car: you would either depend on cabs or you would have to rent your own car.
Riyadh's top sight is the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Diriyah, the ancestral home of the Saudi royal family, which has been renovated to an inch of its life. It's located on the northwestern outskirts of Riyadh only about 15 km from the city center and is covered in a separate article. Sightseeing in Riyadh is a frustrating exercise in careful timing: not only are most sites closed on weekends (F Sa) and during prayer hours, but visiting hours are segregated between men and families, though some flexibility might be provided for western nationals. The one saving grace is that many sites stay open until 9PM. 1 Masmak Fortress (قصر المصمك, Qasr al-Masmak), Deira.
Although few Saudis play golf, there are surprisingly good golf courses around. The best one is the 18-holes course in 1 Dirab Golf & Country Club a good 30 minutes drive west of Riyadh. Nice layout with green and inviting grass, and the last 9 holes are even floodlit. They offer tennis, swimming and horse-back riding as well. There's also a quite nice 9-holes short range course connected to the Hotel Intercontinental almost in the dead centre of the city. Nice but short - also floodlit.
Eating out is one of the few pleasures of Riyadh — there's a pretty good selection of restaurants for various cuisines, ranging from cheap and hearty to fancy and expensive. Your best bet for cheap, filling meals are Riyadh's countless small Pakistani/Indian restaurants, which can fill you up with curry and rice for about SR11. Fast food places abound in Riyadh's shopping malls, with a full meal with drink averaging around SR20. If you want something other than the usual hamburgers and kebabs, Pizza Hut offers a pretty good salad buffet. Mama Noura Juice Center (in multiple locations), ☏ +966 1-4708881.
With alcohol and nightclubs banned, Riyadh's nightlife is infamously non-existent. Despite that however, the Riyadh is much more lively and vibrant during the night as the temperature cools. Shisha (water pipe) cafes, long banned, were finally allowed back within city limits from 2019 -- ask a local (or any taxi driver) for his favorite. Coffee shops can also be found in abundance throughout the city, particularly on Tahlia St (officially Prince Mohammed Bin Abdul Aziz St) in Olaya. For the foreign workers - the expats - the social life can be quite (well, comparatively) rich however. There are always a good party going on in the embassy area or in one of the compounds.
Riyadh is more conservative than Jeddah or the Eastern Province. Women mostly cover themselves with an abaya (available in shops everywhere in Riyadh) but covering the face has become less common as of 2018. Read, understand and follow the guidelines in the Saudi Arabia article to stay out of trouble. LGBT rights are not recognized in the kingdom and public displays of affection, (For both LGBT and straight couples) are frowned on and might lead to criminal prosecutions. In 2002-2004, Riyadh was the site of numerous terrorist attacks on Westerners, including shootings, car bombings and kidnappings, culminating in the May 12, 2003 compound bombings that killed 35 and injured over 160.
Guide content from Wikivoyage contributors (CC BY-SA) — abridged; the full article has much more.
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In Jul, Riyadh typically sees ~43°C daytime highs and 0 rainy days.
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